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otterno11's review
3.0
Retro review*
It really doesn't get much geekier than this, a trade-paperback tie in novel to an obscure campaign setting for an obscure roleplaying game system released just after the fall of TSR and the ascent of Wizards of the Coast, Of Aged Angels is a fun read if nothing else. Monte Cook, designer both for the obscure Dark Matter campaign (an "every myth is true" conspiracy thriller world) for the Alternity game system, as well as a major contributor to the Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition, uses his interest in conspiracy theories and folklore to tell a rip roaring espionage tale with an occult flavor.
This was definitely my favorite of the four Dark Matter novels that were published (perhaps due to being written a creator), and by itself, it is pretty good "gamer novel." Agents of the Hoffmann Institute, a private NGO devoted to scientific research (and secretly opposing various malevolent aliens, secret societies, and magical creatures) find themselves involved in a global conspiracy that leads from the halls of Washington DC to France and Scotland. Along the way, while evading enemy agents and tracking down the Holy Grail itself, they discover many secrets about themselves as well. Pretty standard stuff, but well implemented. The character trio was a fun group and, if nothing really groundbreaking was explored in terms of plot or setting, it is a very amusing thought to note how similar Cook's themes were to a certain more well known conspiracy thriller blockbuster published a couple years later, and how much superior Cook's take on it was.
Of the other Dark Matter novels, all of which star the same trio of characters but written by different authors, I would only really recommend [b: If Whispers Call|1232238|If Whispers Call|Don Bassingthwaite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1182101729l/1232238._SY75_.jpg|1220839], an atmospheric but typical ghost story set in Chicago. [b: In Hollow Houses|108535|In Hollow Houses|Gary A. Braunbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541691466l/108535._SY75_.jpg|104591] delved a little too far into bizarre, new agey, pseudo-intellectual philosophizing and did not really capture the feel of the world, while [b: In Fluid Silence|1232239|In Fluid Silence|G.W. Tirpa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312058120l/1232239._SY75_.jpg|1220840] seemed the most cliched, exploitative, and all around unpleasant.
*Read this nine(!) years ago, so review may be a tad broad.
It really doesn't get much geekier than this, a trade-paperback tie in novel to an obscure campaign setting for an obscure roleplaying game system released just after the fall of TSR and the ascent of Wizards of the Coast, Of Aged Angels is a fun read if nothing else. Monte Cook, designer both for the obscure Dark Matter campaign (an "every myth is true" conspiracy thriller world) for the Alternity game system, as well as a major contributor to the Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition, uses his interest in conspiracy theories and folklore to tell a rip roaring espionage tale with an occult flavor.
This was definitely my favorite of the four Dark Matter novels that were published (perhaps due to being written a creator), and by itself, it is pretty good "gamer novel." Agents of the Hoffmann Institute, a private NGO devoted to scientific research (and secretly opposing various malevolent aliens, secret societies, and magical creatures) find themselves involved in a global conspiracy that leads from the halls of Washington DC to France and Scotland. Along the way, while evading enemy agents and tracking down the Holy Grail itself, they discover many secrets about themselves as well. Pretty standard stuff, but well implemented. The character trio was a fun group and, if nothing really groundbreaking was explored in terms of plot or setting, it is a very amusing thought to note how similar Cook's themes were to a certain more well known conspiracy thriller blockbuster published a couple years later, and how much superior Cook's take on it was.
Of the other Dark Matter novels, all of which star the same trio of characters but written by different authors, I would only really recommend [b: If Whispers Call|1232238|If Whispers Call|Don Bassingthwaite|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1182101729l/1232238._SY75_.jpg|1220839], an atmospheric but typical ghost story set in Chicago. [b: In Hollow Houses|108535|In Hollow Houses|Gary A. Braunbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541691466l/108535._SY75_.jpg|104591] delved a little too far into bizarre, new agey, pseudo-intellectual philosophizing and did not really capture the feel of the world, while [b: In Fluid Silence|1232239|In Fluid Silence|G.W. Tirpa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312058120l/1232239._SY75_.jpg|1220840] seemed the most cliched, exploitative, and all around unpleasant.
*Read this nine(!) years ago, so review may be a tad broad.
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